Bottle sealing devices



Sept. 26, 1961 w. J. HERTER 3,001,658

BOTTLE SEALING DEVICES Filed March 8, 1960 United States Patent 3,001,658 I BOTTLE SEALING DEVICES v William Jacques Herter, 90 Ridge Drive., Livingston, NJ. Filed Mar. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 13,546 Claims priority, application Switzerland Dec. 28, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-47) The present invention relates to bottles and like containers of the type comprising a sealing gasket or disk interposed between the outer edge of the bottleneck and the closing capsule.

This invention relates more particularly to sealing washers of a known type comprising ribs or like projections adapted resiliently to engage the upper edge of the neck of the container, bottle or the like, in order to seal the orifice thereof; in some known devices of this general type these ribs are force fitted or pressed against the upper edge of the neck and form peripheral grooves or like cavities adapted to prevent the leakages of the content by capillarity.

This invention is concerned with a container, bottle or the like characterized in that the outer or upper edge of the neck or outflow orifice is formed with and surrounded by at least one peripheral groove having in radial section a substantially V-shaped configuration, and that the peripheral portion of the plastic or flexible washer to be applied against said edge is formed with paired circular ribs having tapered outer side walls adapted to engage the side walls of each groove surrounding the orifice, a circular recess being formed between said circular ribs and opening into the bottom of the aforesaid peripheral groove.

This washer may be independent from or secured to This Washer may also be moulded in the form of a plastic disk with an integral cap, domed portion or any other shape consistent with the desired type of stopping.

The fluid-tightness of the stopping may also be ensured by the contact between the two inclined side walls of the :ribs of said washer which frictionally engage the side walls of the V-shaped groove surrounding the orifice of the container, and on the other hand by the compression of the air trapped in the groove as the washer is forcefitted or pressed in position; this complementary sealing .action is thus increased. If some of the gas or liquid from the container happened to penetrate into the groove formed in the edge of the neck, it would inasmuch compress the air trapped in the groove and thus cause the ribs to be pressed in sealing engagement against the side walls of the groove formed in the edge of the neck.

The radial-section configurations of the groove formed in this neck and of the ribs formed on the washer are preferably so selected as to enable the ribs to engage the groove down to the bottom thereof.

In order to afiord a clearer understanding of the invention and of the manner in which the same may be embodied for practical purposes, a circular washer of plastic material adapted to seal the joint between the neck of a container or bottle and a closing capsule or the like will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification. In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view from above of the washer.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the washer prior to its application on the outer or upper edge of the neck of a container, in this case a bottle; and

FIGURE 4 is a similar view showing the washer after 3,001,658 Patented Sept. 26, 1961 "ice 2 its application and clamping by means of the closing capsule shown diagrammatically in chain-dotted lines.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view showing a container having a neck provided with a plurality of peripheral grooves, and a capsule having a plurality of lips corresponding to said grooves.

The washer 1 of this invention consists preferably of a plastic, relatively flat or shallow disk formed near its outer peripheral edge with a pair of concentric ribs 2, 3 forming therebetween a groove 4; the outer and inner side walls of ribs 2, 3, respectively, have a tapered configuration, the root of these paired ribs having substantially the same width as the top of a V-shaped groove 5 formed in the outer or upper edge 6 of the neck 7 of the bottle or like container (not shown).

Thus, as the washer is pressed against the upper edge of the neck 7, for example by fitting a capsule 8 thereon (this capsule 8 being of any known and suitable type, for example a screw-capsule, a bayonet-joint capsule, or the like), the outer side walls of the ribs 2, 3 are in frictional engagement with the side walls of groove 5 by friction attended by a certain degree of elastic deformation. A first sealing action is obtained through the contact of the flange and the sides of the flexible cup with the hard neck of the container, and a second sealing action results from the crushing attended by a functional engagement, of the base of the conical lips against the edge of the conical groove of the neck. A third sealing action results from the deformation of the walls of the projecting lips against the walls of the conical groove due to the inequality of the angles of the respective cones, thus providing a large contact area between them, and a fourth sealing action is obtained by the provision of the central tunnel or groove 4, in which a certain vacuum is created, and, in case of leakage of the content from the bottle into this groove 5 (FIG. 4), by the compression of the air trapped therein which tends to press the lip-forming ribs 2, 3 against the side walls of groove 5.

This washer 1 may be formed integrally with or secured on the capsule 8, the number of pairs of ribs formed thereon corresponding to the number of grooves formed in the upper edge of the neck of the container, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. FIG. 5 illustrates a typical embodiment of this invention wherein the neck of the container has two concentric grooves 5 and 9 formed in its edge, the capsule 8 comprising a cup 10 formed with an integral flange 1 having in turn two concentric depending lips 3 and 11 corresponding to, or registering with, the grooves 5 and 9.

It is also to be understood that the two ribs 2, 3 may have equal or different dimensions and proportions, and that the cavity 4 and/or groove 5 may have a more or less V- or U-shaped configuration in radial section.

What I claim is:

1. Stopper for a container having formed in the upper edge of its neck at least one peripheral circular groove of open-cone configuration in section, said stopper consisting of a flexible plastic capsule having formed on its sealing surface, at a radial distance corresponding to that of said neck groove, at least one lip of frustoconical section of which the base width is at least equal to that of the cone of said neck groove, the height of said frustoconical-sectioned lip being smaller than that of said groove, the vertex angle of said lip being infererior to that of said groove, a peripheral groove being formed in said frustoconical-sectioned lip.

2. Stopper for a container having formed in the upperv edge of its neck at least one peripheral circular groove of open-cone configuration in section, said stopper consisting of a hard capsule and of a disk of flexible plastic material which is fitted in the bottom of said capsule, the edge of said disk having formed on its sealing surface, at a radial distance corersponding to that of said groove 9r grooves of said neck, at least one lip having a frustoconical section, the base of said lip being at least equal to that of the cone of said neck groove, and the height of said lip being inferior to that of said neck groove, the vertex angle of said 'frustoconical-sectioned lip' being inferior to that of the cone of said groove, a peripheral groove of sublip.

3. Stopper for a container having formed in the upper edge of its neck at least one peripheral circular groove of open-cone configuration, vvhich'consists of a capsule of flexible plastic material formed with a central cup and a peripheral flange adapted to fit on said neck edgefand stantially rectangularradial section being formed in said tanned Q2 v its seal n .f w at a radial ,di taa e ee r pqa ing to that of said open-cone groove, With at least one peripheral lip projecting With a frustoconical contour of which the base is at least equal to that of the cone of said conical groove in said dgeLthe height of said frustoconical lip being inferiorto that of said'conical groove, and the vertex angle of said lip being inferior to that of said conical groove, said lip having formed therein a peripheral groove of substantially rectangular radial section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

